The 12th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium (AMDRS) will take place in Louisville, KY on May 15 - 16, 2010 at the Shelby Campus of the University of Louisville. The AMDRS started in 1999 at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and has met at various universities in the Midwest every year since then. The Midwest DNA Repair Symposium was originally conceived as a forum to bring together DNA repair researchers from the Midwestern region on an annual basis to discuss ongoing research and to stimulate collaborations. Additional goals of the AMDRS include making the cost of attending the symposium as inexpensive as possible and to provide young investigators, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students priority in presenting their work in oral and poster sessions. DNA repair is a fundamental cellular process critical to maintenance of genome integrity and human health. DNA repair dysfunction has been linked with many inherited diseases as well as chronic diseases such as neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, aging and cancer. The investigators are pleased that this symposia series has been very successful and has seen significant increase in attendance the past several years. One key to the success has been to keep the costs of attendance low. This low cost has been possible because the organizers for each year held the symposium at their home institutions and have secured both intramural and extramural funding to cover some of the major expenses. Especially in times of restricted funding, the AMDRS is one meeting to which PI's have been able to bring their students and post-doctoral fellows to interact with leading scientists in the field and to present their work among peers. The AMDRS is now in its second decade and has started to recycle. In 2010, the AMDRS is returning to Louisville. The three principle goals of the AMDRS: 1) to provide a venue for scientists mainly from the Midwestern states, to present and discuss current research in the field of DNA damage, repair and mutagenesis, and to provide opportunities to foster scientific collaborations. (2) To provide students, postdoctoral fellows, and beginning independent investigators the opportunity to p resent their work to peers and to interact with leaders in the field. (3) To provide an exceptional value of these symposia by keeping them affordable. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Environmental agents that cause DNA damage contribute to the development and progression of chronic human disease including cancer, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. DNA repair is an essential cellular processes that removes the DNA damage and efficient DNA repair is essential to prevention of these chronic diseases. This symposium will bring together DNA repair researchers to discuss their newest research, to exchange ideas and to develop new collaborations.